Of the Father's Heart Begotten alternately known as Of the Father's Love Begotten is a Christmas carol

Christmas carol

A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...

 based on the latin poem Corde natus by the Roman poet Aurelius Prudentius

Prudentius

Aurelius Prudentius Clemens was a Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis in 348. He probably died in Spain, as well, some time after 405, possibly around 413...

, from his Liber Cathemerinon (hymn no. IX) beginning "Da puer plectrum," which includes the Latin stanzas listed below.

The ancient poem was translated and paired with a medieval plainchant melody Divinum mysterium. Divinum mysterium was a "Sanctus

Sanctus

The Sanctus is a hymn from Christian liturgy, forming part of the Order of Mass. In Western Christianity, the Sanctus is sung as the final words of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, the prayer of consecration of the bread and wine...

 trope" - an ancient plainchant melody which over the years had been musically embellished. An early version of this chant appears in manuscript form as early as the 10th century, although without the melodic additions, and "trope" versions with various melodic differences appear in Italian, German, Gallacian, Bohemian and Spanish manuscripts dating from the 13th to 16th centuries.

Divinum mysterium first appears in print in 1582 in the Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 song book Piae Cantiones

Piae Cantiones

Piae Cantiones ecclesiasticae et scholasticae veterum episcoporum is a collection of late medieval Latin songs first published in 1582. It was compiled by Jacobus Finno or Jaakko Suomalainen , a clergyman who was headmaster of the cathedral school at Turku...

, a collection of seventy-four sacred and secular church and school songs of medieval Europe compiled by Jaakko Suomalainen and published by Theodoric Petri. In this collection, Divinum mysterium was classified as "De Eucharistia" reflecting its original use for the mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

.

The text of the Divinum mysterium was substituted for Prudentius's poem when it was published by Thomas Helmore

Thomas Helmore

Thomas Helmore was a choirmaster, writer about singing and author and editor of hymns and carols.Helmore's father was a congregationalist minister...

 in 1851. In making this fusion, the original meter

Meter (music)

Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...

 of the chant was disturbed, changing the original triple meter rhythm into a duple meter

Duple meter

Duple meter is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples or 6 and multiples in the upper figure of the time signature, with 2/2 , 2/4, and 6/8 being the most common examples...

 and therefore altering stresses and note lengths. A later version by Charles Winfred Douglas corrected this using an "equalist" method of transcription, although the hymn is now found in both versions as well as a more dance-like interpretation of the original melody.

Translations

There are two translations commonly sung today; one by John Mason Neale

John Mason Neale

John Mason Neale was an Anglican priest, scholar and hymn-writer.-Life:Neale was born in London, his parents being the Revd Cornelius Neale and Susanna Neale, daughter of John Mason Good...

 and Henry W. Baker and another by Roby Furley Davis.

Neale's original translation began "Of the Father sole begotten," in his Hymnal Noted (London, 1851), and contained only six stanzas. It was Neale's music editor, Thomas Helmore

Thomas Helmore

Thomas Helmore was a choirmaster, writer about singing and author and editor of hymns and carols.Helmore's father was a congregationalist minister...

, who paired this hymn with the Latin plainsong. Neale's translation was later edited and extended by Henry W. Baker for Hymns Ancient and Modern

Hymns Ancient and Modern

Hymns Ancient and Modern was a hymnal in common use within the Church of England. Over the years it has grown into a large family of hymnals....

(London, 1861; below).

Dissatisfied with Neale's translation, Roby Furley Davis (1866-1937), a scholar at St. John's College, Cambridge, wrote a new version for the English Hymnal

English Hymnal

The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St...

of 1906. Davis was assistant master at Weymouth College

Weymouth College

Weymouth College is a Further Education college located in Weymouth, England.The college has over 7,000 students, studying on a wide range of practical and academic courses in many different subjects...

 and a scholar of the works of Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...

, especially his book on Agricola

Agricola (book)

The Agricola is a book by the Roman historian Tacitus, written c 98, which recounts the life of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general. It also covers, briefly, the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain...

. This is the text preferred by cathedral choirs, and was the version used in the popular Carols for Choirs

Carols for Choirs

Carols for Choirs, published by Oxford University Press, edited by Sir David Willcocks with Reginald Jacques and John Rutter, is the most widely-used source of carols in the British Anglican tradition, and among British choral societies.There are four books in the original series and a portmanteau...

series by David Willcocks.

Text and translations

Latin text by Prudentius Prudentius Aurelius Prudentius Clemens was a Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis in 348. He probably died in Spain, as well, some time after 405, possibly around 413...  (b. 348).	Translation by Roby Furley Davis, for the English Hymnal English Hymnal The English Hymnal was published in 1906 for the Church of England under the editorship of Percy Dearmer and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The preface to the hymnal began with the statement, "A collection of the best hymns in the English language." Much of the contents was used for the first time at St... (1906).	Translation by J M Neale John Mason Neale John Mason Neale was an Anglican priest, scholar and hymn-writer.-Life:Neale was born in London, his parents being the Revd Cornelius Neale and Susanna Neale, daughter of John Mason Good... , extended by Henry W. Baker (1851/1861).
	Of the Father's heart begotten, Ere the world from chaos rose, He is Alpha, from that Fountain All that is and has been flows; He is Omega, of all things, Yet to come the distant Close, Evermore and evermore for ever.	Of the Father’s love begotten, Ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, And that future years shall see, Evermore and evermore!
	By His word was all created He commanded and 'twas done; Earth and sky and boundless ocean, Universe of three in one, All that sees the moon's soft radiance, All that breathes beneath the sun, Evermore and evermore.	At His Word the worlds were framèd; He commanded; it was done: Heaven and earth and depths of ocean In their threefold order one; All that grows beneath the shining Of the moon and burning sun, Evermore and evermore!
	He assumed this mortal body, Frail and feeble, doomed to die, That the race from dust created, Might not perish utterly, Which the dreadful Law had sentenced In the depths of hell to lie, Evermore and evermore.	He is found in human fashion, Death and sorrow here to know, That the race of Adam’s children Doomed by law to endless woe, May not henceforth die and perish In the dreadful gulf below, Evermore and evermore!
	O how blest that wondrous birthday, When the Maid the curse retrieved, Brought to birth mankind's salvation By the Holy Ghost conceived, And the Babe, the world's Redeemer In her loving arms received, Evermore and evermore.	O that birth forever blessèd, When the virgin, full of grace, By the Holy Ghost conceiving, Bare the Saviour of our race; And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer, First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!
	Sing, ye heights of heaven, his praises; Angels and Archangels, sing! Wheresoe’er ye be, ye faithful, Let your joyous anthems ring, Every tongue his name confessing, Countless voices answering, Evermore and evermore.	O ye heights of heaven adore Him; Angel hosts, His praises sing; Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King! Let no tongue on earth be silent, Every voice in concert sing, Evermore and evermore!
	This is he, whom seer and sibyl Sang in ages long gone by,; This is he of old revealed In the page of prophecy; Lo! he comes the promised Saviour; Let the world his praises cry! Evermore and evermore.	This is He Whom seers in old time Chanted of with one accord; Whom the voices of the prophets Promised in their faithful word; Now He shines, the long expected, Let creation praise its Lord, Evermore and evermore!
	Hail! thou Judge of souls departed; Hail! of all the living King! On the Father's right hand throned, Through his courts thy praises ring, Till at last for all offences Righteous judgement thou shalt bring, Evermore and evermore.	Righteous judge of souls departed, Righteous King of them that live, On the Father’s throne exalted None in might with Thee may strive; Who at last in vengeance coming Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, Evermore and evermore!
	Now let old and young uniting Chant to thee harmonious lays Maid and matron hymn thy glory, Infant lips their anthem raise, Boys and girls together singing With pure heart their song of praise, Evermore and evermore.	Thee let old men, thee let young men, Thee let boys in chorus sing; Matrons, virgins, little maidens, With glad voices answering: Let their guileless songs re-echo, And the heart its music bring, Evermore and evermore!
	Let the storm and summer sunshine, Gliding stream and sounding shore, Sea and forest, frost and zephyr, Day and night their Lord alone; Let creation join to laud thee Through the ages evermore, Evermore and evermore.	Christ, to Thee with God the Father, And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee, Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, And unwearied praises be: Honour, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory, Evermore and evermore!